“We shouldn’t have come. I’m so sorry. I didn’tthink.”
He reached around behind himself and held her hand, but he didn’t look away from the door. “There’s no way you could have known, and they shouldn’t have been able to find us. We didn’t fly commercial. I’ll take care of them when I get back to Monaco through whatever means I have to.”
“But, if they’re international—”
“We have Matryona in custody. We’ll leverage her. I’ll take care of this. I’ll take care ofyou.Iwon’tlet them steal you.”
The door unlocked.
Maxence released her hand and stood. Dree twisted on the bed.
A man in a white coat entered, staring at a chart in his hand. “I hear you two off-the-books folks need a head trauma consult, amongst other things.” He flipped a page. “Like wound cleaning and bandaging.” He finally looked up from the chart, bent sideways, and peered around Maxence.“Dree?”
She blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “It’s okay, Max. This is Dr. Jax Callejo. He’s an ER attending physician.”
An hour later, when they had been thoroughly examined, rinsed with saline, antibiotic ointment applied, and bandaged, an unidentified number called Maxence’s phone. When he answered it, Dree heard a man’s voice say, “The Welfenlegion have arrived. They will escort you to the compound at Schloss Southwestern.”
Caridad unlocked the door and stuck her head inside. “There are some guys here for you.” She looked at Dree. “Big guys.”
Behind her, a tall white man pushed the door open. His light brown hair was cut high and tight, and he looked over the room with pale brown eyes the color of mild whiskey. His accent was kind of French and kind of German. “I am Luca Wyss of the Welfenlegion. We will escort you to the home of Wulfram von Hannover. Come with us, please.”
“Who’s this Hannover guy?” she asked Max.
“Flicka’s older brother,” Max told her. “He has a private army.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Schloss Southwestern
Maxence
Afleet of black SUVs drove through the darkening streets of Phoenix and then through the wrought iron gates of a secure community. The sign on the side of the road readApache Tears Ranch.
Maxence had shoved Dree into the middle of the back seat and rode with his arm clamped around her the whole way.
Horror vibrated through him.
They’d almost gotten her.His life would’ve been over before it had begun.
The SUVs pulled into an enormous garage and parked tightly, like they were on a ferry. Luca Wyss led the way as they walked between the SUVs toward the house. The taps of their footsteps echoed on the metal vehicles and the cement floor and walls in a cacophonic clatter.
The vehicles were packed so tightly into the garage that it was almost a surprise when they crossed a vast space in the center. A circular seam creased the floor, and a dark computer screen topped a waist-high pedestal.
Dree looked around herself as they crossed the space. “Are there more SUVs coming?”
“Perhaps.” Maxence pointed to a matching hole in the ceiling. “But this is a vehicle elevator. This garage has at least one more level, and if the building is any indication, two more.”
The door led into a large commercial kitchen, equipped with white ceramic tile and stainless-steel appliances. Black-clad staff bustled around, cooking. Pink flames erupted in a pan on the stove.
An extraordinarily tall man, the same height as Maxence himself, strolled in through a door on the other side of the kitchen. His hair was spun-gold blond and moderately longer than the paramilitary guys of the Welfenlegion, but his eyes were his most striking feature.
Flicka’s eyes were the clear, glittering green of emeralds, but her older brother’s eyes were a dark, almost sparkling, sapphire.
He cradled a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket against his chest and shoulder, holding the child with both hands, and his voice was soft so he would not startle the infant. “Maxence, it’s good to see you again. Pardon me if I don’t shake your hand.”
The clench in Max’s chest loosened. “Wulfram, thank you for the rescue.”
“What’s the use of owning a private paramilitary army if you can’t occasionally help out friends who are being targeted by murderous mafia thugs?”
